Aldea Spiritual Community

POLITIKÁ (Part 1): Before | Jake Haber

As we count down the hours until Election Day, we reflect on the spirituality of politics, how to heal a divided nation, and the true meaning of "apocalyptic". 
 
Quotes:
 
Brian Zahnd:
“Jesus wasn’t about creating an alternative political regime, but rather, he offered an alternative vision for how human society should function—one rooted in love, compassion, and justice.” 
 
Buckminster Fuller:
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
 
Mother Teresa:
“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”
 
Joseph Campbell:
“Apocalypse does not point to a fiery Armageddon, but to the fact that our ignorance and our complacency are coming to an end.”
 
Marianne Williamson:
“You must go through a period of emptiness to become full, through suffering to find peace, through confusion to discover clarity. The breaking apart is part of the journey to wholeness.”
 
 

Ghosts, Ghouls, and Goblins | Arlene Marko

Join us for this insightful talk from Arlene - as she explores the connection between our perceptions and stress, drawing from her own story and experiences as well as her background in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction! 

Our Interfaith Future | Jake Haber

Check out our exploration of the concept of "Interfaith" and how it relates to human development and spiritual evolution. We talk about food courts, bumper stickers, clay pots, mystics, soup, and more. 
 
Quotes:
 
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks:
“Interfaith dialogue doesn’t mean that we have to agree on everything. It means we commit to a conversation, to listening, and to learning from one another.”
 
Yuval Noah Harari:
(Religion) enabled large numbers of strangers to cooperate effectively. But why should they do so? Why should an individual in a group of 100,000 people be willing to do things for the benefit of strangers? The answer is that large-scale human cooperation is based on our unique ability to believe in shared myths. This is the foundation of religions… This system establishes norms and values for cooperation and morality in human societies, which are crucial for keeping large groups together.”
 
Rumi:
“The lamps are different, but the Light is the same.”
 
Karl Rahner:
“The Christian of the future will be a mystic or will not exist at all” 
 
Martin Luther King Jr:
“We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now. Interfaith dialogue helps us navigate the waters of our shared existence.”
 
Desmond Tutu:
“My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together. Interfaith dialogue helps us find this common humanity, even amidst our differences.”
 
Swami Vivikenda:
“if there is ever to be a universal religion, it would be one which embraces every aspect of humanity and recognizes every path to truth as valid.”
 
Matthew 7: 16-18:
"But you will recognize them by their fruits. You don’t find sweet, delicious grapes growing on thorny bushes, do you? You don’t find delectable figs growing in the midst of prickly thistles. People and their lives are like trees. Good trees bear beautiful, tasty fruit, but bad trees bear ugly, bitter fruit. A good tree cannot bear ugly, bitter fruit; nor can a bad tree bear fruit that is beautiful and tasty."
 
Karen Armstrong:
“No one faith has all the answers, but together we can learn to live harmoniously, with respect and compassion for one another.”
 
Ilia Delio: 
“The Religion of Tomorrow… celebrates the idea that individuals can contribute to creating a sustainable and interconnected world, guided by love rather than rigid dogma.”
 
 
 
 

ZOE (Part 4): Living With Death | Jake Haber

For the finale of our ZOE series, we had a conversation about death, and how an awareness of death can actually help us live a meaningful life - referencing Celtic & Indian wisdom, the science of our bodies, and the beauty of Autumn.
 
Quotes: 
 
Rupert Spira:
“Each night, we practice a little death in sleep. We let go of the mind and body and fall into the quiet stillness of pure being. Death is no different—it is simply the final surrender.”
 
Adi Shankara:
“You are not the body. You are the consciousness which witnesses the coming and going of the body.”
 
Celtic Proverb:
"Death is the middle of a long life”
 
Rupert Spira:
“What we fear in death is the loss of everything we have identified with. But what we truly are can never be lost.”
 
Ram Dass:
“When someone dies, the love that you shared is the space they opened up in your heart, and that space never goes away. The love remains, because love is who we are, not who we were.”
 
Rupert Spira:
"Death is not the biggest fear we have; our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive—the risk to be alive and express what we really are".
 
Mono No Aware: Japanese concept around appreciating the beauty of the transitory nature of life. 

ZOE (Part 3): A Life Of Meaning | Jake Haber

Is there a simple answer to the question - what is the meaning of life?
 
Or are there infinite ways that we bring meaning to our lives - and the universe - through the unique answers that we all possess? 
 
Check out Part 3 of ZOE as we explore the difference between the Meaning of life and a Life of meaning. 
 
Quotes:
 
Rumi:
“Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.”
Don Miguel Ruiz:
“You are the artist of your own life. Don’t hand the paintbrush to anyone else.”
 
Joseph Campbell:
“Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to life. It is a waste to be asking the question when you are the answer.”
 
Alan Watts:
“The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.”
 
Viktor Frankl:
“Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose. Life has no meaning except the meaning we give it.”
 
Albert Camus:
“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”
 
 

ZOE (Part 2): Now, Here, This | Jake Haber

For the second part of our ZOE series, we explored the idea of a "full" life through the perspectives of presence, "unhurriedness", and the reclaiming of one's attention.
 
Quotes: 
 
Zen Proverb:
"When walking, walk. When eating, eat.” 
 
Ralph Waldo Emerson:
“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”
 
Lao Tzu:
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
 
Carl Honoré:
“The central tenet of the Slow philosophy is taking the time to do things properly, and thereby enjoy them more.”
 
Eckhart Tolle:
“You are never fully here because you are always busy trying to get elsewhere.”
 
Kabir:
“Wherever you are is the entry point.”
 
Allen Lokos:
“Our life is the sum total of where we place our attention.”
 
Dr. Joe Dispenza:
“The more you focus on the good, the more good will come into your life. Where you place your attention is where you place your energy.”
 
 

ZOE (Part 1): Birthing Yourself | Jake Haber

On Sunday, we began our new series ZOE (greek for "spiritual life") by exploring the idea that life is about "giving birth to oneself".
 
Quotes:
 
Søren Kierkegaard:
"The function of the ‘bios’ is to be the condition for the ‘zoe’.”
 
John 10:10:
“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
 
John 3:3-8:
"Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it’s not possible to see what I’m pointing to—to God’s kingdom.” “How can anyone,” said Nicodemus, “be born who has already been born and grown up? You can’t re-enter your mother’s womb and be born again. What are you saying with this ‘born-from-above’ talk?” Jesus said ....When you look at a baby, it’s just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can’t see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit.”
 
Erich Fromm:
"The whole life of the individual is nothing but the process of giving birth to (oneself); indeed, we should be fully born when we die — although it is the tragic fate of most individuals to die before they are born.”
 
Parker J. Palmer:
“Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am.”
 
Carl Jung:
“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.”
 
Rumi:
“You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life?”

Interview with Devin Wright

Devin Wright is the Lead Pastor of Missiongathering Bellevue, a progressive and inclusive church in the Seattle area. In this interview, Jake and Devin talk about their friendship, Devin's faith journey, and the idea that everything in the universe is in process.

The Spirituality of Listening | Arlene Marko

On Sunday, September 8th, Arlene shared an insightful and inspiring message about the difference between hearing and listening, the spirituality of silence, and how to listen to various aspects of ourselves, including our mind, body, and emotions. 
 
Quotes: 
 
Rumi:
“There is my body, in it an ocean formed of his glory. All the creation. All the universes. All the galaxies are lost in it”
 
Ernest Holmes: 
“Never limit your view of life  by any past experience.”
 
Steve Jobs:
“Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”
 
Frederick Buechner: 
 “Whenever you find tears in your eyes, especially unexpected tears, it is well to pay closet attention. They are not only telling you the secret of who you are, but the (divine) may be speaking to you through them  of the mystery of where you come from and is summoning you to where you should go next”
 
Thomas Merton: 
“In a world of noise, confusion and conflict, it is necessary that there be places of silence, inner discipline and peace. In such places love can blossom."
 

MANTRAS | Jake Haber

On Sunday September 1st, we reflected on the importance of mantras, including how they function in our lives, and why they have the ability to cross cultural boundaries.
Quotes:
 
Mooji:
"You don’t need to read books to understand God. You just need to look within."
 
Gabrielle Bernstein:
"A mantra is a mental instrument that fine-tunes your inner vibration.”
 
Matthew 7:12:
"This is what our Scriptures come to teach: in everything, in every circumstance, do to others as you would have them do to you."
 
Forrest Gump (Film):
"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get"
 
Wayne Gretzky:
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take"
 
Paramahansa Yogananda:
“Mantras are the creative expression of the voice of silence.”
 
Julian of Norwich:
"All shall be well. All shall be well. All manner of things shall be well."
 
Fernando Sabino:
“If it’s not okay it’s not the end”
 
J.R.R. Tolkien:
"Not all who wander are lost"
 
Om Mani Padme Hum: "The jewel in the lotus"
 
Epictetus: “Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it”